IEEE Spectrum’s transportation protection this yr lined breakthroughs in electrical autos, batteries, charging, automation, aviation, maritime tech and extra. Readers adopted the race to rebuild U.S. magnet manufacturing, rethink EV-charging structure, and reinvent automotive software program. They tracked China’s dash towards five-minute charging, the rise of high-power house chargers, and the push to automate airports. Our most-read tales additionally explored next-generation navigation, zero-carbon delivery fuels, record-size electrical vessels, and early street exams of solid-state batteries. Learn on for our roundup of the transportation tales printed in 2025 that readers discovered most compelling.
Enterprise Wire
The most-visited transportation put up of the yr centered on the US’s efforts to rebuild a home provide of neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets—crucial elements for EVs, wind generators, HVAC techniques, and plenty of navy techniques. MP Supplies has begun trial manufacturing at its new Texas plant, with plans to ramp as much as between 1,000 and three,000 tonnes per yr and provide firms like Basic Motors. Different U.S. tasks from e-VAC Magnetics, Noveon, USA Uncommon Earth, and Quadrant are additionally rising.
However these efforts are dwarfed by China’s uncommon earths business: China makes 85 to 90 % of NdFeB magnets and 97 % of the underlying uncommon earth metals, with particular person Chinese language corporations producing tens of 1000’s of tonnes—excess of all non-Chinese language vegetation mixed. China additionally has large unused refinement and manufacturing capability, retaining international costs low.
MP Supplies’ distinctive mine-to-magnet technique may provide intelligence and supply-chain resilience, however competing with China’s subsidies and scale might be extraordinarily tough. The U.S. Division of Protection might pay a premium for “friendly-nation” magnets, however cost-obsessed automakers like GM may resist greater home costs.
Jim West/REA/Redux
A powerful public EV-charging community is important for mass electric-vehicle adoption, particularly for drivers who can’t reliably cost at house. But at present’s fast-charging stations are costly and sophisticated largely due to one characteristic: galvanic isolation—the transformer-based security barrier that protects towards electrical shock when floor connections fail. This isolation {hardware} accounts for roughly 60 % of charger power-electronics price and about half of energy losses, making quick chargers expensive to construct and preserve. The authors of this piece—veterans of AC Propulsion, whose early expertise influenced the Tesla Roadster—argue that galvanic isolation is not vital.
The authors suggest a brand new method they name direct energy conversion (DPC): eradicate the isolation hyperlink totally and change it with: (1) a double-ground system with ground-continuity detection to forestall shock hazards, and (2) a buck regulator to deal with voltage mismatches between the grid and the EV battery. Eradicating isolation would simplify chargers from 4 power-conversion levels to only one (plus a buck regulator if wanted). This might minimize charger {hardware} prices by greater than half, enhance effectivity by 2–3percent, allow less expensive fast-charging stations, permit EV onboard chargers to turn into highly effective sufficient for Stage 3 charging, and speed up enlargement of public charging infrastructure.The authors argue that simplifying chargers—and shedding previous assumptions about galvanic isolation—is the quickest path to an inexpensive and dependable EV-charging community, which is crucial to broad EV adoption.
BYD has unleashed megawatt-class EV charging in China, delivering 400 kilometers of vary in 5 minutes—triple the facility (and thus triple the velocity) of at present’s finest U.S. setups. A Han L sedan briefly hit 1,002 kilowatts on BYD’s new 1,000-volt platform, which makes use of 1,500-V silicon-carbide chips and redesigned lithium iron phosphate batteries to allow secure, ultrafast charging. BYD’s vertically built-in method—constructing vehicles, batteries, and chargers—lets it scale rapidly and hold costs low. The corporate has already deployed 500 megachargers and plans 4,000 extra, pushing China far forward as rivals like Huawei and Zeekr race to match speeds as much as 1,500 kW.China makes 85 to 90 % of NdFeB magnets and 97 % of the underlying uncommon earth metals, with particular person Chinese language corporations producing tens of 1000’s of tonnes—excess of all non-Chinese language vegetation mixed.
ChargePoint
Whereas BYD is amping up public EV charging speeds in order that including vary takes not than filling a petroleum car’s gasoline tank, one other firm is pursuing a charging technique that makes higher use of the time when autos sit idle—which is more often than not.
MCKIBILLO
Airports are rolling out a wave of recent automation to hurry journeys from curb to gate. Copenhagen Optimization’s Digital Queuing lets vacationers reserve safety occasions, with machine-learning fashions adjusting slots and staffing in actual time. Digital Bagtags generate paperless baggage tags by way of NFC, whereas Idemia’s biometric techniques confirm identification with a fast face scan. Smiths Detection’s X-ray diffraction machines establish supplies by molecular “fingerprint,” decreasing false alarms. Amazon’s Simply Stroll Out retailers allow cashierless purchases, and Avidbots’ Neo robots autonomously scrub terminal flooring. Even boarding will get smarter with techniques that flag passengers attempting to leap the queue.Eradicating galvanic isolation may simplify chargers from 4 power-conversion levels to only one. This might minimize charger {hardware} prices by greater than half, enhance effectivity by 2–3percent, and allow less expensive fast-charging stations.
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